Col. George B. Wiestling

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Husband Col. George B. Wiestling ^{1 2}

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           Born: 28 Jan 1836 - Harrisburg, Dauphin Co, PA 2
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         Father: George Philip Wiestling (1808-1883) 2 3
         Mother: Margaret C. Berryhill (      -      ) 1 2

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Wife

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General Notes: Husband - Col. George B. Wiestling

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He had excellent school advantages, which he improved, and became a civil engineer. At the age of seventeen, he entered the engineer corps of the Sunbury & Erie Railroad, later known as the Philadelphia & Erie Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad. He assisted in the preliminary surveys, location and construction of that road. As assistant engineer, he was afterward engaged on the Pennsylvania Railroad in inspecting railroad iron, and on the Lancaster, Lebanon & Pinegrove Railroad on preliminary surveys and location. Subsequently he became engineer of a construction company, which undertook heavy railroad work in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and on the dissolution of that company, he became a member of the contracting firm of McAllister & Wiestling, and built the large tunnel at Oxford Furnace, New Jersey, on the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, besides miles of heavy open cut work. In March, 1862, at the solicitation of Gens. Franklin and Philip Kearney, he invented and built for the Government an attachment designed to enable the movement of heavy artillery through the deep muds of Virginia. He was with Kearney's brigade during the advance from Burk's Station to Bull Run and Centreville. As staff officer, he had charge of the shipment of organized troops from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and, in recognition of his service, he received, unsolicited from Gov. Curtin, three separate commissions as colonel, at as many different times-the first, as colonel commanding the Twenty-third Regiment of emergency men. When its term expired, he received the second, as colonel in the organization of the drafted men of the border counties, with headquarters at Chambersburg, Pennsylvania; the third, as colonel commanding the One hundred and Seventy-seventh Regiment, Pennsylvania Infantry, which was assigned to duty in the department of Virginia, under command of Maj.-Gen. Dix. Col. Wiestling and his regiment participated in all the engagements between Norfolk and Blackwater River. For several months, Col. Wiestling was commandant at Deep Creek, Virginia, having both infantry and cavalry under him. The territory under his charge extended from Great Bridge, on the Albemarle Canal, to Suffolk, Virginia, and from the city lines of Norfolk, Virginia, to South Mills, North Carolina, including both the Albemarle Canal and Dismal Swamp Canal. This region was infested with guerrillas, and embraced the most patronized thoroughfares over which contraband mail and merchandise was carried between the North and South. One of the scouting parties sent out by Col. Wiestling, in command of his brother, Adjt. John G. Wiestling, captured the rebel mail, which contained advice of the intended movement of Longstreet's corps upon Norfolk, and which resulted in the concentration of 30,000 Union troops in Suffolk, where Longstreet's advance was checked. During the battle of Gettysburg, Col. Wiestling was ordered north from Deep Creek, Va., with his command, via Fortress Monroe, to join the Army of the Potomac, which they reached in time to participate in the pursuit after Lee's army, having been assigned to Geary's brigade, of which Col. Wiestling was the senior colonel. Subsequently he was assigned to the command of Maryland Heights, opposite Harper's Ferry, and remained there until the term of service of his regiment expired, when he was mustered out with his men. Ill health prevented his re-entering the army, and on February 27, 1864, he became interested in the Mont Alto Iron Works, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, and took charge of its active management. He improved and enlarged the works, increasing their output over fourfold, and still continues at their head. In 1872 he built the Mont Alto Railroad. In 1877 he added to his labors, by taking charge of the Rochester & State Line Railroad in New York. In 1879 he extended the Mont Alto Railroad to Waynesboro, and was still its engineer and superintendent. He originated the idea of having a large park at Mont Alto, and was the prime mover and main spirit in laying out the grounds of Mont Alto Park in 1875. He was the first president of the United States Association of Charcoal Iron Workers. He was a trustee of Wilson Female College; a member of the American Institute of Mining Engineers; a member of the council of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association; a member of the American Micrological Society; a member of the Reformed Church and a zealous Sunday-school worker. In politics he was a stanch Republican. He was a member of the Electoral College in 1880, and cast his vote for Garfield. He received next to the highest popular vote in the state, given any elector. He invented and took out a number of patents in the line of his business, and made decided improvements in the manufacture of the best qualities of iron. He "banked up" his blast furnace over Sunday and allowed no unnecessary labor to be performed on that day, always keeping the Sabbath inviolate. [HFC 1887, 895]

1 William Henry Egle, History of the County of Dauphin in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: Everts & Peck, 1883), Pg 550.

2 —, History of Franklin County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Warner, Beers & Co., 1887), Pg 895.

3 William Henry Egle, History of the County of Dauphin in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: Everts & Peck, 1883), Pg 549.